Uraume's breathing was shallow and ragged. Her shoulders heaved with effort. Even as she watched the colossus of fury called the Berserker disappear before her eyes, his body dissipating into snow, his essence fragmented into thin air, she could feel no relief. Only exhaustion.
The world seemed distant, as if she were trapped beneath a frozen lake, hearing everything muffled, feeling everything delayed. Her knees trembled, and she could barely stand.
That was why she had not noticed Uro Takako approaching.
A soft whisper cut through the air like a blade.
"You were formidable. But you no longer belong in this field."
Before Uraume could react, a distortion swirled around her, the space around her twisting like a liquid mirror shattering. The last thing she saw were Uro's eyes, cold and assessing, as if pondering whether or not Uraume was still useful.
The ground disappeared beneath her feet.
The world spun.
In an instant, Uraume was swallowed up by the distortion of space and thrown violently away from there, as if she had been spat out by a fold of reality itself.
She collided with the ground somewhere far away in the forest, crashing between roots and branches. The blow made her body weaken even more, and she rolled a few times before stopping on her stomach, the snow beginning to cover her torn white cloak.
Involuntary tears ran from the corners of her eyes due to the pain, but she still resisted unconsciousness. Even fallen, even without knowing where she was, Uraume clenched her fists with the strength of someone who refuses to be discarded.
But now, alone and injured, she would need more than determination to survive what was to come.
Uraume's fingers dug into the damp, cold earth as she tried, with great effort, to lift herself up. Her legs wobbled, her body protested, but she refused to stay on the ground. One step at a time. One knee steady. Her posture straightened. She took a deep breath, the sharp air of the forest filling her lungs.
It was then that she heard it. "You were always this proud... even when you were almost dead."
The voice was melodic, provocative... and unbearably familiar.
Uraume's heart stopped for a moment, more out of irritation than surprise. She slowly turned her face, her eyes narrowed. And there she was, among the trees shrouded in mist: Yorozu.
The smile on the reincarnated girl's face was tilted, almost pitying, but her eyes shone with a familiar malice. She had her hair tied in a loose bun, wearing battle clothes too sumptuous for the forest, as if she had stepped off a stage and entered this scene on a whim. "I wondered if you still existed... and look at you, all broken. Disappointing."
Uraume was silent for a while. Her gaze was as cold as the frost she left behind, and carried more contempt than pain.
"Unfortunately, you still exist..." she finally answered, her voice hoarse but firm.
Yorozu laughed softly and walked a few steps forward, her gait light as if she were dancing. "You ignore me so much, and yet we always reappear in each other's lives. Fate? Karma?"
Uraume didn't answer. Her body ached, her muscles burned, but her mind was alert. And even with Yorozu's irritating presence, she forced herself to maintain control.
"What do you want?" she asked directly.
Yorozu shrugged, stopping a few meters away. "Same as you, bringing Sukuna-sama back... I heard you faced the Berserker alone. How bold. Or suicidal. But tell me, was it worth it? So many broken bones from a beast that wasn't even your problem?"
Uraume stared at the ground for a moment, then looked up, her eyes hard as newly formed ice. "I did what needed to be done. Something you would never understand."
Yorozu smiled, but there was something in her eyes, a hint of disdain? Envy? Maybe just boredom. "Always so 'noble'... as if you were still part of something bigger. But look at you, alone, bleeding, and with no one around. Where is your precious boy now?"
The name made Uraume grit her teeth, but she didn't answer.
Yorozu then tilted her head slightly, and her expression changed from mockery to something more serious, more sharp. "You shouldn't be here, Uraume. The pieces on the board are shifting. And if you continue on this path... you'll be crushed along with the rest."
Uraume took a step forward, even though she was trembling. Her gaze was menacing. "If I'm crushed, I'll drag you down with me."
Yorozu just smiled wider. "Oh, how charming. You're still fun, even if you're dying."
Yorozu prepared to fight. "I hope you still have enough strength to fight..."
Changing perspective...
The mist in the forest was slowly beginning to dissipate, revealing the ground marked by the scars of recent battles: shattered trees, the frozen ground cracked by colossal blows, and the last traces of the presence of a true monster. There, standing with an upright posture and a stern look, Illyasviel von Einzbern watched the ice crystals slowly melting where her most faithful servant Berserker had once rested.
Beside her, Uro Takako kept her eyes half-closed, watching Illya with some caution. She had been present during the last moments of the fight, and now, with the command seal burned from Illya's hand, everything was clear: Berserker had fallen. His last life was spent.
"He's gone..." Illya murmured, her eyes still fixed on the horizon.
The Command Seal in her hand had completely disappeared, silent and definitive as death. The bond had been broken. The indomitable giant who had protected her with blind fury and unwavering loyalty was no more.
Uro tried to soften the silence that had settled between them: "I'm sorry for your loss. He fought… with everything he had."
Illya didn't answer right away. Her white hair swayed gently in the breeze, her porcelain face still clean of tears, but tense like marble about to crack.
"He wasn't defeated… he was betrayed by fate." she said finally, her voice delicate but somber. "They pitted him against cowardly, unpredictable enemies. But he was what he was supposed to be: immortal."
Uro crossed her arms, observing her more closely. Even without her most powerful servant, Illya showed no signs of collapse or fear. The fragility he had expected to see in the sweet, aristocratic-looking girl was gone. What he saw now was a pure, determined, and cold mage—the true heir to the Einzbern lineage. "He did what he could. Now we need to retreat. You need to protect yourself."
Illya turned her eyes to her, her tone almost scathing: "Protect? I still have a goal. As long as Yuji Itadori draws breath… this war is not over."
Yuji's name was spoken firmly, almost like a curse. Uro showed no surprise, but there was a hint of hesitation. "You saw how he was… injured. He is no longer a threat, at least for now."
Illya turned fully to her now, her red eyes glowing with intensity: "Precisely because of that. He is weakened. And unlike others, I do not underestimate my enemies. If he survives… he will become the threat that will destroy everything we are trying to preserve."
Uro stared at her for a few seconds in silence. Was the girl distraught? Obsessed? Maybe… but she was also clear in her conviction. There was no hesitation. "So… what do you intend to do?"
Illya looked down at her palm, now clean of the command seal. She closed it tightly. "Berserker was my sword. But I am judgment." She looked up, firm. "There is still magic in my blood. There are still allies in this war. And I know their weaknesses better than they imagine."
Uro sighed, as if accepting an inevitable sentence. "Then you will not retreat."
"I have never retreated," Illya replied, her tone as cold as the cutting wind between the trees.
The young Einzbern then turned, walking through the debris of the forest, her steps firm as those of someone who has lost everything… except the will to win. Uro followed her, silently, for he understood that Illya was no longer just a master. She had become something much more dangerous:
A child with anger.
A strategist with no more ties.
A force that now wanted revenge.
And Yuji Itadori… was the next name written in the blood of war.
Meanwhile...
The soft light that passed through the dusty windows of the abandoned cabin fell on the wooden floor, creating streaks of heat in the cold forest environment. The silence between us was peaceful, almost serene. I sat on the edge of the bed, slowly putting on my shirt, still absorbed in my own thoughts, my gaze turned to the ground as if trying to understand everything that had happened both outside and inside me.
Arturia, with her back to me, adjusted her clothes with silent elegance. Her armor was not yet complete, but her body was already moving more lightly than before. The brightness in her eyes had returned, and the paleness that had taken over her since the last confrontation was already dissipating. The exchange of mana had taken effect, she was reinvigorated, ready for the next battle. However, there was more than just magic between the two of them now.
I ran my hand over my chest, briefly feeling that familiar uncomfortable pressure in my heart. Angra Mainyu's curse was still pulsing inside me. It was like a dark, smoldering fire, burning subtly but constantly in my gut. However, for the first time since everything began, I could bear it without buckling. The burden was still there, but it was no longer crushing me.
"Are you okay?" Arturia asked, without turning around.
I took a deep breath before answering, looking at my own hands.
"Me… Yes. Better than before. More centered." I paused. "It's like ... For a moment, I had come back to myself."
Arturia finished adjusting her cloak and turned to him. There was a tenderness in the look, but also firmness. There was no doubt or hesitation in his posture, only the honor of a knight who, for the first time in a long time, had allowed himself to be vulnerable. "You never ceased to be you, Yuji, not for a second ... Not even when you carry the burden of the king of curses within you. And now… Even with this new curse, you still fight for something bigger than yourself."
I smile lightly, a tired but sincere smile.
"Easy for you to say. You're the fucking king of Britain." I let out a nervous giggle, scratching the back of the neck.
Arturia raised an eyebrow. "And you kissed me first."
I was flushed again, looking away.
Silence came back for a moment, but it was comfortable. Then I got up and walked to her, stopping a few inches away. I observe her for a moment, as if she recorded that image in memory: the woman who was a legend, but now seemed as human as me. "Do you think we still have any chance against Illya?"
Arturia nodded firmly.
"As long as we are alive, we still have a choice. And power." She put her hand on my shoulder. "And now you are no longer alone."
I took a deep breath, feeling that even with the weight of darkness inside me, there was a thread of light to which it could cling. I tightened the fists, determined. "So let's end this war… our way."
We stared at each other for another moment, and then, together, we left the house, the wind of the forest starting to change direction, as if the whole war was preparing for the next movement.
While the three of us prepared in the silent clearance next to the abandoned cabin, I adjusted the waist strip, testing the body's movements with small punches in the air. My expression was no longer before there was a focus now, there was fire in the eyes. Arturia tied her cover firmly, her golden hair swing slightly in the wind.
Rin, on the other hand, was finished storing some magic crystals inside the coat, and when I noticed, I frowned with a toy of concern. "Rin… can I ask one thing?"
She looked up at a slightly suspicious. "What it was?"
I hesitated for a moment before continuing: "How do you intend to fight Berserker? Even with Uraume fighting him, we don't know if it's enough. You're powerful, but you're not a servant."
Arturia, who listened in silence, looked away at Rin curiously. She was right, facing him front would be suicide.
Rin just smiled. That confident, almost arrogant expression that she did when she hid something important. "I have my secrets, Yuji."
"Serious?" I insisted crossing my arms. "It's not time to do suspense."
She approached with a serious look and put a finger on my chest.
"You carry a curse inside you. Arturia carries the weight of an entire story. But I…" She stepped back, the smile returning. "I carry the tohsaka inheritance. Do you really think I grew up without plans for such cases?"
Arturia watched her in silence, and at that moment something was clear: Rin was not just waiting to be protected. She had prepared for this war.
"Are you saying that… Do you have a letter on your sleeve?" I asked.
"Several." She answered. "And if you need it, I'll use them. Even if that kills me."
I widened my eyes for a moment, but then relaxed. I knew Rin was too stubborn to be prevented. I just nodded, respectful.
Arturia, in turn, sketched a slight smile. There was pride there, but also a silent concern.
"Just don't go in front of the spear, Rin." she said.
Rin rolled his eyes. "I'm Mage, not suicidal."
The trio then began to follow the narrow forest trail, where the air became increasingly heavy. The war was not over yet. And everyone knew that the worst was yet to come.
The silence of the forest was broken only by the sound of dry branches departing under our feet. The trio walked with caution, attentive to any malicious presence that could emerge on the way. The mist between the trees was denser, and the oppressive sensation in the air intensified with each step.
It was then that I suddenly stopped, my eyes wide.
"There." I muttered.
Ahead, surrounded by a heavy aura, were Uro Takako and Illyasviel von Einzbern. The young Einzbern seemed even pale than usual, her red eyes shining with a cold, almost cruel intensity. Uro remained by his side, serene and firm, like a wall around the girl.
I stared at Illya, so I looked at her hand and something caught her attention.
Her command seal had disappeared.
I swallowed dry. A shiver traveled his spine. That could not mean anything else.
"The… Berserker?" I muttered more to myself. "Did he die ...?"
The absence of the seal spoke for itself. Illya had lost her servant.
If Berserker was defeated… Who killed him? Was it Archer? Would it have been toji? And then a painful thought came up.
"Uraume…" I murmured unconsciously. "She went faced him alone."
For a moment, the world around was distant. I remembered the moment Uraume told us to flee, staring at the monster alone. He remembered his coldness, his elegant and deadly way of fighting and the absurd force Berserker had.
The doubt burned inside:
Did Uraume die to protect us?
My fist closed hard. The idea of losing someone else… I choked me. I had already lost Archer. Now, maybe Uraume too.
Arturia noticed my dark gaze and approached a little more, placing a firm hand on my shoulder.
"She was strong." Said in a low voice. "If you have fallen, it wasn't in vain."
Rin, on the other hand, didn't take his eyes off Illya. That presence… There was something wrong there. It was not just the loss of a servant. It was as if Illya was more… dark. More determined. More dangerous.
"She hasn't given up yet." murmured Rin. "Even without Berserker."
Uro and Illya were still standing, watching them with a calm that did not inspire confidence. No word was said yet, but the eyes spoke for themselves.
The battlefield was now psychological.
And the war continued.
As soon as the silence between the two groups broke, I use Takako advanced like a living mist, disappearing and appearing at different points of the forest with a speed almost impossible to follow. Its movements resembled the sharp wind of the unforeseen, fickle, and relentless mountains.
Arturia pulled her sword firmly, her eyes attentive trying to predict the next jump of Uro. I, on the other hand, kept my fists clenched, feeling Angra Manyu's curse pulse in my body, as if alerting him from imminent danger. I knew that even with all the force I had recovered, a fight against Uro would be different. She was not brute force was technical, agility and intelligence condensed.
"Damn ... she disappears before I was able to hit a blow ..." I grumbled, dodging a sudden attack that came from behind my shoulder.
Uro reappeared at the top of a tree, as a mirage watching them, and then disappeared again.
"She's playing with us." Said Arturia with her breath firmly.
"No. She is studying us. Observing how we react." My eyes were starting to get more attentive. "But if I can hit a blow ..."
Arturia turned to me with a surprise expression.
"What?"
I closed my fists and a dark aura serpent around my arms. It was the cursed energy. But not the wild and uncontrolled before. I was starting to understand it. To use it. "If I can touch her even once ... I can feel her soul. The echo she leaves in space when she moves. And then, even if she disappears, I'll know exactly where she will reappear."
Arturia nodded, understanding. We needed an opening. Only one.
Uro came back, this time next to Arturia. The knight's sword cut the air, but hit nothing.
I narrowed my eyes. She was getting bolder.
It was then that I jumped.
With the speed that surprised even his own Uro, I made an unexpected movement, jumping to the opposite side of where she last appeared. I turned in the air, punching a tree tightly, but not because it made a mistake. I knew she would be there.
And it was.
Uro reappeared half a second too late to escape the impact of the curse that exploded from my fist. The blow was not straight to it, but the energy resonated through space. As a spiritual sonar.
The moment the wave touched its presence ...
"I found you." I said with my eyes shining with determination.
Uro widened her eyes, for the first time surprised.
Now, I didn't need to see her anymore.
I felt it. With each step, every jump, each teleport. Her soul vibrated as a dissonant note in the world.
The tide was beginning to change.
Uro Takako disappeared again, her body disappearing like a sharp wind that dissipates between the trees. But unlike before, she didn't run away from battle. It was a strategic retreat, a way to reassess its enemies, not to escape.
I was panting, but his eyes were fixed in the void where she had been. I no longer needed vision. I felt where she was. And yet it did not move.
Arturia realized. "Why did you stop? We can press now."
I took a deep breath, my shoulders still tense. "No. We can't ... kill her."
Arturia frowned. "What?"
I slowly turned to her, her expression grave. "Uro Takako… is one of the reincarnated ones, remember? She's using the body of an ordinary woman. A real person. She was possessed, just like others were during the Tokyo Colony Incident."
Arturia tightened her grip on her sword. The idea of fighting an innocent person forced to be a vessel for an ancient spirit was nothing new to her… but it never stopped weighing on her.
"If we kill her…" I continued, "it won't just be Uro who dies. It will be the woman whose body she's using."
Arturia closed her eyes for a moment. "So what do we do?" she asked, now more calmly.
I looked up. "We have to win. Make her unable to continue fighting. Force her to separate from her body. That's the only way to save the one being controlled."
A heavy silence fell for a few seconds. The sound of the wind blowing through the leaves was the only noise besides their breathing.
"You've changed, Yuji Itadori..." Arturia said with a slight smile. "More mature… and more like someone who also carries the burden of many others."
I looked down at my hands. I could still feel the curse of Angra Manyu running through my veins, pulsing. But at that moment, I didn't feel like a monster. "I just… I don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past."
Arturia nodded. "Then let's find her. And we'll win without killing."
A rustling in the bushes alerted them.
Uro had reappeared… farther away now, watching. His eyes were half-closed, as if he'd heard every word we said.
But there was something different in his gaze.
A flicker of hesitation.
Perhaps… some part of the original soul inside the body was listening too.
The battle had turned into a tense dance, fast, but deeply strategic. Uro Takako, the warrior who manipulated the space around her as if it were an extension of her own body, disappeared and reappeared with supernatural precision.
Every time Uro tried to disappear, the world slowed down for me for a millisecond. The curse running through my veins amplified my senses in an unstable way, but in that moment, I used it to my advantage.
"Right! Behind you, Arturia!" I shouted firmly.
Arturia didn't hesitate. Her body turned in an elegant and fluid movement, and Excalibur cut through the air like a golden bolt of lightning. Uro barely had time to block the blow with her arm covered in distorted energy, but she was still thrown against a tree upon impact.
She disappeared again before touching the ground.
"Up! Next to that huge tree!" I pointed without thinking.
Arturia jumped with a spin in the air, her sword charged with sacred mana. She crossed blades with Uro overhead, the clash reverberating like thunder. The space warrior fell, but recovered in the air, teleporting once more.
But there was no more surprise.
I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling that distorted presence move again.
"Ground. Behind me."
Without waiting for the blow, I spun and threw a brutal punch at the empty air and connected.
Uro was thrown against the ground, opening a furrow in the leaf-covered earth. She staggered to her feet, coughing up blood. Her eyes were wide. That boy couldn't see her, but it was as if he knew her. As if he felt the rhythm of her very soul.
Arturia fell beside me, gasping a little.
"You're... guiding the entire fight." she said, not hiding her surprise.
I didn't answer right away. My eyes were focused on Uro, who was shaking slightly, hurt and confused. For the first time, she didn't look arrogant. She looked... human.
"She's wavering," I murmured.
Arturia tightened her grip on her sword. "Do you want to end this now?"
I shook my head. "Not end it. Save it."
Uro slowly stood up again, her hands still shaking. "Aren't you... going to kill me?" she asked in a hoarse, lower voice, almost fragile.
I took a step forward, even though I was hurt. "You're a reincarnated. I know what it's like to be possessed. I know what it's like to fight someone inside you... and want to break free."
Silence hung over the forest.
A light breeze passed through the trees.
And for the first time... Uro hesitated.
Perhaps for an instant, the woman inside her, the original, was listening.
But at that moment, Arturia and I were fighting not to destroy… but to liberate.
The forest was silent after the last impact. The trees, even wounded by the mana explosions, still stood like ancient sentinels. Sunlight filtered through the tall branches, creating dancing shadows on the leaf-covered ground. Arturia and I remained attentive, watching Uro Takako's every breath.
She looked exhausted. Her knees were shaking, blood was trickling from a cut on her temple. For a moment, her eyes softened, she was panting as if at the limit, her hands slightly raised in a gesture of surrender.
"...You're right..." she said, her voice low. "Maybe... there's no point in continuing this."
I stood my ground, even though my body ached inside. Arturia relaxed her guard a little, but kept her sword in her hands, wary.
But then everything changed in an instant.
Uro gave a brief, almost sad smile… and whispered something that could barely be heard:
"Domain Expansion: Tessellated Void."
In a sudden flash, the domain expansion manifested. The ground shook, the sky distorted, and an invisible curtain fell over everyone.
The world around me fractured like glass into multiple dimensions. Geometric lines and impossible angles cut through the air. It was like being inside a mirrored cube in constant transformation. Reality seemed to float between disconnected angles. This was Uro Takako's Domain Expansion: Tessellated Void.
Before Arturia could react, the domain "captured" her, sealing her in a prismatic structure of energy, where time and space moved randomly. She disappeared from Yuji's sight in the blink of an eye, confined within a broken dimension.
"Arturia!" I shouted, taking a step forward, but stopped.
Uro had already disappeared from view. Not completely, she was still present, but her footsteps no longer echoed. Her movements were now projections within the tessellation, impossible to follow. It was a trap.
And then I felt a familiar presence approaching... Illyasviel von Einzbern.
She appeared calmly, walking between the fragments of the deformed forest, with her hands crossed behind her back. Her white dress contrasted with the distortion of the world around her.
I clenched my fists, but did not raise my arms.
Illya stared at me. The wind blew lightly between them, and the tesserae of the domain fluttered like shards of glass in the light.
"You still don't get it, do you?" she replied. "This isn't just about the Holy Grail…"
I took a deep breath. My eyes were fixed on her, but her mind was still on Arturia, trapped in a distorted space, fighting alone.
I took a step forward. "And if you don't believe that anymore, then… I'll make you remember."
Illya narrowed her eyes, shaken for the first time. Behind the girl shaped for war, I saw a fragment of humanity.
The conversation had begun.
But nothing was yet decided.
While the outside world became the stage for a tense conversation between Illya and me, inside the Tessellated Void, Arturia found herself alone, or nearly so.
The sky above her was nonexistent. The ground seemed to be made of liquid mirrors that reflected infinite versions of herself. Geometric pillars floated around, spinning like pieces of a puzzle that would never fit together. Uro Takako was somewhere in that distorted space, but it was impossible to know where.
Arturia held her sword steady in her hands, her eyes scanning the surroundings, but everything around her seemed... wrong. Sounds didn't echo properly. Her own perception seemed fragmented, as if time was constantly resetting every second.
Then she stopped.
She took a deep breath.
She remembered Yuji's words from another fight:
"If you feel the soul... you can predict before the attack."
She closed her eyes.
"I can't fight with my eyes... not here. This isn't a battle of reflexes. It's a battle of intentions."
Arturia knelt briefly, plunging the tip of her sword into the prismatic floor. She let Excalibur fall silent. Every beat of her heart echoed in that artificial world. Each breath shaped the reality around her.
And then... she felt it.
A subtle shift in the air.
Nothing visible. Nothing tangible. But the intent...
A thread of murderous will, silent, trying to hide in the void.
Arturia suddenly spun around, bringing her sword back. The sacred steel of Excalibur collided with a curved blade, appearing out of nowhere—Uro Takako had attempted a surprise attack.
But Arturia was ready.
She jumped back, her eyes still closed, her senses completely focused on the distortions of that domain.
Uro landed lightly a few meters away, his eyes half-closed. "You shouldn't be able to do that here," he said in an almost disappointed tone.
Arturia raised her sword firmly. "You've turned the world into a puzzle, but you've forgotten that my will is simple and direct. I don't need to see it. I just need to believe in the cut."
Uro gritted her teeth. She tried to move again, disappearing in a series of short, unpredictable movements, as if she were jumping between broken mirrors. But with each appearance, Arturia was already turning toward her, blocking, parrying, defending. It was as if she saw with her own spirit.
Excalibur danced like a golden flame amid the distorted geometry.
Arturia saw nothing.
But she felt everything.
And Uro, for the first time... began to retreat.
The advantage of dominance had vanished.
There, at the core of the distortion, the king's sword shone like a sun in the void.
With each blow of Excalibur, the once perfect, symmetrical, and infinite Tessellated Void began to creak like glass under pressure.
The reflective floor no longer reflected Arturia's image as it had before. Fragments of light flickered, shattering with each strike of her blade. When her sword touched the floating geometric shapes, they not only exploded, they disappeared from existence, as if they had never been real.
Uro Takako, until then confident in her spatial manipulation, began to lose control.
She tried to teleport herself again from one side of the domain to the other, but the scene reacted too late. The folds of space were already too unstable to obey her will with precision.
Arturia kept her eyes closed.
Her every movement was guided by the presence, by the feeling, by the subtle noise that Uro's soul made in that broken void.
The knight spun on her heel, slashing in an arc, a golden explosion appearing like a wave of sunlight. One of the floating pillars shattered into a thousand prisms, taking with it part of the illusion that supported that world.
And the domain... trembled.
Uro staggered, her hands pressed to her temples. "No... it is not possible! You do not belong in this space!" she screamed, her voice echoing as if it came from a thousand directions.
Arturia then opened her eyes and they shone with pure conviction. "This space has no laws that apply to me. For I carry the sword that separates truth from illusion."
She leapt, rising at a speed almost impossible to track, her cloak fluttering amidst the chaotic geometry.
Uro tried to parry the attack, summoning dozens of blades curved at multiple angles... but Arturia cut through them all like lightning through a storm.
And then with one last diagonal strike, coated in pure mana, she cut through the heart of reality.
There was a sound of gigantic glass breaking.
An echo that did not end, but faded like a forgotten memory.
The geometric shapes fell apart, the ground melted into light and... the sky returned.
The Tessellated Void had been destroyed.
The two were thrown back into the real world, falling hard onto the forest floor. Arturia rolled to the side, standing up immediately, panting. Uro, on the other hand, coughed up blood, his body trembling, his gaze lost.
The world returned to its natural rhythm — the sound of the forest, previously muffled by the distortion of reality, invaded Arturia's ears like a distant whisper. Leaves danced in the wind, and the birds that had fled during the distortion began to sing again as if the battle had never happened.
Arturia stood, her shoulders heaving slightly with the effort. The heat of battle still enveloped her body, but her mind was calm and focused.
In front of her, Uro Takako fell to her knees.
She was shaking. Her hands were dirty with dirt and blood, her expression still partially intoxicated by the collapse of her control. Her eyes sought to understand what had happened, but her body no longer responded.
"You are not a villain, Uro…" Arturia murmured, her tone softer. "You are just... at war with yourself."
In a precise and decisive movement, Arturia advanced with Excalibur in hand. The blade flashed, but she turned it sideways, striking the back of the sword directly at Uro's temple.
The dry impact echoed among the trees.
Uro fell to the side, unconscious. Her body gave in to the exhaustion, the pain and the destabilization of the soul that accompanied her technique. She was breathing, but she was completely unconscious.
Arturia kept her guard up for a few seconds, her blue eyes analyzing every inch of her surroundings, as if she expected some further interference. But... nothing.
The forest was silent.
She put away her sword, and only then did she allow herself to falter. Her legs trembled slightly, her muscles fatigued by the intensity of the fight inside and outside of reality.
But, for now, she had won.
Alone.
Now all that remained was to know... where were the others?
In the meantime...
The wind passed through the trees, blowing the leaves with a soft, almost melancholic sound, in contrast to the tension between Illyasviel and me.
I kept my hands exposed, without a fighting stance. My eyes, previously intense and full of determination, now conveyed only regret.
"Illya... I didn't come here to fight you." she said, her voice choked. "I just... wanted to apologize. For your mother. For all of that."
Illya's back was to me, motionless. The breeze ruffled her white hair as if the world were trapped in a silent moment. But even without seeing her face, I felt the answer.
"Do you think words change anything?" she said coldly. "I don't want to hear my mother's name come from your mouth."
I bit my lip, trying to contain the guilt that was overflowing. I knew that, even without direct intention, I had been involved in tragedies that I could not erase. "I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't fast enough. But I swear I tried..."
Illya slowly turned to face him, her red gaze glowing like embers in a snowy field. "Then fight, Yuji Itadori. Show me how 'strong' you are."
She raised her arm, and before she could summon any power or cast a curse, a silent figure appeared behind her.
"Not so fast."
The soft, almost ironic voice was unmistakable.
Rin Tohsaka, with her sharp and determined gaze, had approached without making a sound. Her fingers were already touching Illya's back, lightly manipulating her magical energy, blocking any sudden summoning.
Illya froze for a second in surprise. I took a step forward, surprised by the mage's sudden appearance.
"Rin...!"
"She was about to attack you, idiot!" Rin replied, without taking her eyes off Illya. "You talk too much. And hesitate too much."
Illya tried to resist, but Rin had drawn magic circles on her own arms, momentarily stopping the homunculus' prana flows.
"That won't hold her back for long," Rin muttered. "Just tell me what you want, Yuji."
I looked at Illya, now silent but furious, and took a deep breath.
"I don't want this war to destroy anyone else. Not you. Not Rin. Not anyone. You can still stop it. You can still choose... to be something more than a weapon made for revenge."
Illya trembled slightly.
Even without answering, something in her gaze wavered. But the pride and pain she carried in her chest were too deep to melt in a few words.
Silence fell like a thick fog between the three of them. Illya was shaking. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white, and yet she seemed to be fighting against something deeper than any spell: her own feelings.
I took a step forward, my voice husky, filled with an almost sisterly warmth: "Before she disappeared... your mother looked at me. And in that look... I understood."
Illya didn't look up, but I saw her shoulders shake.
"She knew she couldn't stop me. That I would keep fighting. But even so, she asked one thing. Just one."
....
"She asked me... to protect you."
The words broke something inside Illya. The tears she refused to let fall began to fill her eyes.
I continued to speak in a lower, more vulnerable voice: "I couldn't protect everyone. And I'm no hero. But I'm still here. And if you want to hate me, I understand. But..."
I held out my hand.
"...but let me try to fulfill what I promised. Let me protect you now, Illyasviel."
Illya finally looked at me. Tears streamed from her eyes, silent, pure, almost childish. She tried to speak, but her voice failed. Her expression oscillated between hurt, anger, longing and a pain that no child should carry.
She took a hesitant step, and then collapsed into my arms.
Rin watched everything without saying a word. Her hands slowly released from the girl's back, deactivating the magic circles. There was a slight shadow of sadness in the mage's eyes.
In my arms, Illya cried softly, her face buried against my chest, as if she was finally allowed to feel. As if, for a moment, the child that still existed inside her could breathe.
I wrapped her in my arms, firm but tender.
"You are not alone anymore..." I whispered. "And you will never be again."
At that moment, between the shadows of the forest and the remnants of a cruel war, three souls found something rare: not victory, not peace... but a thin thread of understanding.
And sometimes, that was all one could hope for in the midst of chaos.
Illya slept soundly in my arms. Her small fists were still clenched, as if holding the fragments of a pain she no longer wanted to carry. Even in her sleep, there was something serene in her face, as if after so long, she had finally allowed herself to rest. I held her close with immense care, as if the girl were made of crystal. My eyes, however, were turned to the void, processing everything that had happened... and everything that was yet to come.
It was then that the silence of the forest was broken by firm footsteps. Arturia appeared from the shadows of the trees, and in her arms, Uro Takako fainted, her body injured and her hair loose covering part of her face. There was dirt and leaves stuck to her clothes, she had fought with everything she had, watching Illya in my arms with a soft but tired expression.
Arturia stopped in front of me, and her gaze fixed for a moment on the sleeping girl. Then she looked away and, with her free hand, held out something wrapped in dark cloth.
"Uro Takako had this..." she said seriously. "One of Sukuna's fingers."
I widened my eyes as I felt the weight of the evil presence even before I was going to unwrapped the object. It was like a spot in the air, a weight that squeezed the chest. I held the package, and the corrupted heat of the curse seemed to be pulsed in my hand. Another fragment of him. Another link with what still dwelt inside me.
"Strange ..." I muttered by watching the cloth.
Arturia, still holding a woman in her arms, gave a slight sigh. "Even so, you're here. Loading her. Trying to protect everyone. Maybe ... that's what really matters."
I didn't answer right away. I looked at Illya in my arms, then to the package in hand. Then he looked up at Arturia. "Thanks for bringing it ... and for coming back."
Arturia nodded with a small smile. His eyes found mine, there was a silent exchange of respect, complicity ...
Rin approached, stopping by our side. "Let's get some rest. This clearing is safe, at least for now."
I looked around. The forest still whispered with the night wind, but for now ... there was a strange feeling of respite.
I sat with Illya still in my arms, covering her with her coat. Sukuna's finger was resting beside me, but for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel his weight alone.
A few minutes later ...
Illya slowly opened her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering as the afternoon light of the afternoon was filtered through the high leaves of the forest. Her body was still tired, but now relieved of a weight that she herself did not understand completely. Sitting in silence for a moment, she looked around to her eyes met with mine, who remained close, sitting with her hands intertwined, watching the floor covered by moss.
Noticing that she had awakened, I approached slowly, trying to measure the words. It was not just a casual conversation, it was a meeting between two broken worlds that finally recognized themselves.
"You woke up ..." I said gently, crouching beside her. "Are you feeling well?"
Illya nodded, but did not respond immediately. His red eyes were calm, although they still carried traces of the previous cry. She looked at me for a moment, as if he measured the weight of the next words.
"You really look like her ..." he murmured. "With my mother. I feel ... something on you."
I just heard, respecting her time. Illya then looked away and put her hand over her waist. There was a small leather bag attached to the side of the dress.
"Before the war begins ... they gave me that to protect." Illya said in a low voice. "They said it was important, it was an essential piece for someone very dangerous. I didn't know what it was at the beginning ..."
She opened the small bag and carefully removed a small wrapping involved in old fabric and containment symbols. I already knew what it was even before she was off: he could feel. The family and heavy heat of evil, the curse in a gross state.
Illya revealed what was stored.
Another finger of Sukuna.
I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling the evil energy pulse as if I recognized my old home. The surrounding air seemed denser for a short moment, until he opened his eyes and said firmly, "This is another part of it ... One more that needs to disappear."
Illya held her finger with both hands, as if about to get rid of a burden. Her eyes trembled, but her voice was determined: "I don't want this world to be swallowed by darkness. I don't want my mother's suffering in vain ... so take it. And it ends with him."
I received the package carefully, my face becoming serious. It was another step. "Thank you, Illya."
"Don't thank me ..." she said, with a slight sad smile. "Just come back alive. And ... protect her."
I didn't have to ask who she referred to. I just nodded. And at that moment, something between the two was healed, a bridge reconstructed between mother and son, even in another timeline, even in the midst of war.
Sukuna's finger was now safe. But the war was still far from the end.
I turned to Uro Takako still passed out.
The environment remained silent except for the subtle sound of the leaves shaking with the wind. Uro Takako was still passed out in the arms of Arturia, her body exhausted and marked by the fighting. I approached slowly, carefully watching the woman's face that, despite everything, was not the true enemy, only the host of a warm soul in war.
I knelt before Arturia, which kindly laid up over a clean part of the grass. So I took a deep breath. My fingers trembled for a moment, but I firmly firmly, putting them gently over the woman's chest.
"I'm sorry for everything they did to you ..." I whispered with a choked voice.
Concentrating the energy, I closed my eyes. My conscience extended as if i sought a fragile flame inside a dense fog.
And then he felt: a powerful soul, full of pride, but ... incomplete. Mixed with another, arrested, slowly choking on a body that did not belong to it. I use Takako or at least his original soul was there, buried under layers and layers of the force of an ancestral reincarnated.
"I'll free you up ..."
With a concentrated effort, I gently pulled the essence that did not belong to that time. A weak light has detached itself from the woman's body, visible only to me, like a floating silhouette. The soul of Uro seemed confusing but serene, as if finally understood what was happening.
"Go in peace." i said allowing the soul to dissipate as a breeze at dawn.
The woman's body relaxed, as if, for the first time in a long time, was at peace.
I remained there for a few seconds in silence until I turned to Rin.
"Hey, Rin ..." i said, with a low voice. "Can you get something from the abandoned house? A blanket ... anything to cover her body. She deserves it."
Rin nodded, his look firmly, but with strokes of tenderness. Not saying anything, she walked quickly toward the old house in the clearing.
I observed the woman's body. Now she was just a victim, an innocent soul returned to her place. I closed my eyes for a moment and whispered, "Another soul that won't be used again. I promise I'm going to end it without death ..."
Behind me, Arturia was silent, respecting the moment. And in his eyes there was pride.
Not from a warrior ...
But from a man who saved lives.
End of Chapter 18